Fasten your seat belts.
If turbulence makes you nervous, maybe fly around the Rocky Mountains — the high-elevation region was home to some of the most unstable air in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.
With scary videos showing how unfriendly the skies can be now regularly appearing on social media and in the news, anxiety analysis reveals which routes are most likely to have you clenching your seat and saying your prayers — you should want to make alternative plans.
The five worst offenders in the country were all within the mountain time zone.
Those hoping for a smooth ride shouldn’t fly from Albuquerque to Denver, for one thing—the city pair ranks as the worst of the fifty states for bouncy planes, according to data from Turbli, a turbulence forecasting tool.
Turbulence is “air movement that cannot normally be seen and often occurs unexpectedly. It can be created by many different conditions, including atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts, or thunderstorms,” according to the FAA.
To create its annual list, Turbli monitors turbulence forecast data from NOAA and the U.K. Met Office, he said, also randomly sampling nearly 1.5 million flight tracks a year to assess for disturbances.
At the end of each year, everything is added up and averaged to determine the less-than-prestigious ranking.
Denver ended up somewhat overrepresented at the top of the list — the incentive flight from the Mile High City to the elite resort town of Jackson, Wyo. ranked second, while the jump from Jackson to Salt Lake City ranked third.
Salt Lake in Denver took number four and the mountain town of Bozeman, Mont. rounded out the top five for his trip to “you guessed it” Denver.
Every single flight in the top 10 was within the region, or immediately adjacent, with one exception – Ontario, California. to San Diego, a short hop within Southern California that also passes over some relatively mountainous terrain.
No flights east of the Rockies reached the undesired rate.
The busiest airlines in the US for 2024
- Albuquerque (ABQ) – Denver (DEN)
- Denver (DEN) – Jackson (JAC)
- Jackson (JAC) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
- Denver (DEN) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
- Bozeman (BZN) – Denver (DEN)
- Ontario (ONT) – San Diego (SAN)
- Boise (BOI) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
- Bozeman (BZN) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
- Las Vegas (LAS) – Reno (RNO)
- Las Vegas (LAS) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
The data dump also included analysis of overseas flights, with flights over mountain ranges again taking the top spot.
The most famous involves a trip over the Andes – Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile, a trip one travel writer refers to as “fast and brutal.”
“This was the kind of flight when the seat belt sign stayed up the whole time and no one walked around, including the flight attendants (kissed the coffee cup goodbye),” said a blogger at Correr es mi Destino.
Another route over the Andes, from Santiago to Córdoba, Argentina, ranks second.
Either Mendoza or Santiago was at the bottom of the sixth of the 10 scariest flights.
#Terrified #turbulence #ten #busiest #roads #avoid #flying
Image Source : nypost.com